Norinchukin Bank The Buys 3,041 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Norinchukin Bank The lifted its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,054 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,041 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The's holdings in Paychex were worth $2,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,419,878,000 after purchasing an additional 174,817 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,772,544,000 after buying an additional 166,155 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,408,458,000 after acquiring an additional 519,761 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Paychex by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,339,463,000 after acquiring an additional 126,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,104,626 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $575,551,000 after acquiring an additional 208,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $144.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,602,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,918,219. The company has a market cap of $51.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.40 and a fifty-two week high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business's 50 day moving average price is $147.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.67.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PAYX. UBS Group raised their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.00.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.